The phone rings again, and I reach for it, snatching it off the table and hitting the call button viciously, angry at being distracted from my fantasies. Viktor's voice is tight on the other end. "We have something. You need to see this now."
“Fine. I’ll be there in five.”
I get up, ignoring the ache in my cock. I don’t have time to do anything about it right now, and it won’t help anyway. Jerking off isn’t a solution any longer. Not when I know how Liesl’s pussy feels, how good her mouth is. The only thing that satisfies my lust any longer is her.
When I get down to my office, Viktor is already sitting at the other side of my desk, his screen filled with intercepted communications. I can see immediately that they’re encrypted messages from sources we've been monitoring since Baumann refused to pay the ransom, finally decoded. He doesn't say anything, just turns the screen toward me and lets me read.
The first message is from Alexander Baumann to someone in the Volkov organization. It has coordinates and shipment details, with weapon specifications. Then, there’s one from someone involved with Volkov, detailing the payment that’s been sent. There are more, along those same lines—proof that Liesl's father isn't just refusing to pay ransom. He's actively arming my enemies. He’s brokering deals between them and contacts he has to ensure they have weaponry that could take me and my organization down.
“This is bad.” My jaw clenches. “He must have had these contacts already, deals he covers up with real estate and investments. Now he’s utilizing them to get in bed with the Volkovs.”
Viktor nods. "The men are asking what we do now. If we still try for ransom or if we?—"
"No ransom." The decision is immediate. "He's declared war. So now we're at war."
"And the girl?"
The girl.Liesl.
"She stays," I say flatly. "She's leverage now. Insurance. He wants to arm Volkov? Fine. But he does it knowing I have his daughter, and what I could do to her if he pushes too far."
Viktor's expression doesn't change, but I see the calculation in his eyes. He's wondering if I mean it. If I would actually hurt her to make a point to her father.
I don't know the answer myself.
"There's something else," Viktor says carefully. "We found a leak. Someone feeding information to Baumann about our operations."
My hands curl into fists on the desk. "Who?"
"Timofey. One of the guards on the east perimeter."
"Where is he now?"
"Holding room in the basement. Waiting for you."
I stand, feeling the cold swell of rage in my gut. I’m furious at yet another betrayal, but a part of me is eager, too. Glad for somewhere to direct all the anger and tangled emotion surging through me constantly now. I can focus it here, and god help Timofey and whatever part he played in this.
"Get two men. Meet me down there in five minutes."
Viktor leaves without another word.
I stand in the office for another minute, sucking in slow breath after slow breath and letting it out again, trying to maintain some semblance of control.
Then I go downstairs to kill a traitor.
—
Timofey is tiedto a chair in the center of the room when I arrive. His face is already bruised—Viktor's work, probably, or one of the other men who brought him in. He looks up when I enter,and I see the exact moment he understands he's not walking out of here alive.
"Pakhan." His voice shakes. "Please. I can explain?—"
"Explain what?" I move closer, keeping my voice conversational. Calm. "Explain how you've been feeding information to Alexander Baumann, or how you've been helping him coordinate attacks against us? Explain how you betrayed every man in this organization for… what? Money? Promises of something else?"
"He threatened my family?—"
"Everyone threatens everyone's family, Timofey. That's how this world works." I crouch down in front of him, meeting his eyes. "You had choices. You could have come to me. Told me about the threat. Let me protect you. Instead you chose to betray us. To put every man here at risk. To help our enemies kill our people."
"I'm sorry?—"
